SUGGESTIONS PLEASE Horse on trail.

ameeyal

ameeyal

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I would appreciate peoples opinions please.
I have a horse on a fortnights trail, { i payed up front for him, and we signed a contract for a fortnights trail}. This horse is perfect, BUT he puts uneven pressure on his front feet, its not to noticable, but i know he does it, i had a vet out to check his feet, he clearly saw he puts less pressure on one of his feet, this foot is more upright than the other, after a flexion test he was 1/10 lame which the vet wasnt concerned about,His other owner has said she hasnt had a days lameness whilst she has had him, she has hacked him, and done ridden shows, i also want him for hacking, but his work load will be a lot more. The vet suggested a longer trail to see if he can cope with the work i want him to do, so ive been thinking of what i can suggest to his other owner as i have to ring her tonight.
1. Send him back
2. Keep him for another 3 months { she has to pay to keep his stable saved, shall i contribute towards that}
3.Get my money back of her, and suggest i have him on loan for 6-12 months with view to buy, { she doesnt want to buy another horse with the money}
4. The loan comes to an end this weekend, shall i just keep him.

The other owner seems a nice genuine girl, and wants the best for her horse.
Thankyou for reading. SUGGEST AWAY :)
 
I would be concerned at even slight lameness if it could not be explained by something. Some people can not spot slight lame strides, so you don't know how long it has been there.
Would ask owner can you have vet investigate bit further, and share costs.
 
The vet said he sees a lot of horses with different shaped feet and none of them place uneven pressure whilst walking. He had a good feel and felt nothing, he said an exray might not show anything. He didnt suggest to walk away from him, and said if 10 vets were to see him they probley would all come up with different views, from he is lame to there is nothing wrong with him.
 
Did you not have him vetted before you bought him?

I think if it were me I would say to owner that he's a lovely boy and you want to keep him but sorry, you are going to do a little investigating into that foot and so want £800-1000 knocked off his price to use to do that. At the end of the day, he may only be 1/10 lame but he is STILL lame, she has sold you a lame horse and she is probably very genuine but still. If you pay good money for a horse it really shouldn't be lame.

Say you will offer him a good home but want some money knocked off price to compensate you investigating lameness.
 
I don't know what you mean he puts more pressure on one foot than another but it is not too noticeable, it is noticeable or it is not, the horse is lame or he is not.
Is the vet an equine vet, was he sold as sound? The whole " might be considered lame by another ten vets " is weird too, on the day, he is sound or he is lame, that is the end of it. There are degrees of soundness/lameness which is what he should assess imho.
If I wanted a horse to be examined for lamenss, I would want it trotted on the lunge, on a hard surface, this is a better test than lifting the foot and looking at it or a flexion test. You say he did not ask for him to be trotted up and down in hand, that is very a poor vet examination, did you just go up to a vet in the yard and ask him to have a quick look at your horse or did you ask for a proper examination.?
If you had him on trial, why did you pay up front, what happens if she refuses to return the money?
If you have a major doubt what is preventing you sending him back?
 
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A few years ago I had a pony sent in to be sold, it came newly shod but in my view not very well done, I did not get it redone, as was my gut instinct, and it failed on front flexion tests. I had it shod by my farrier, it was very unbalanced in his opinion enough to put pressure on its joints and make it lame under flexion. I sold it again and it passed no problem. I had known the pony for a long while and knew it had never been unsound and it has gone on to be totally fine for many years since.

So I would look at its feet first, if you can get your farrier to shoe him then the vet back to do tests again, it could be something that will be fixed by a good farrier. If it was the horse for me, I would ask for an extension to the trial so I could shoe, flexion and maybe x ray then make a decision based on the outcome.
 
be positive said:
A few years ago I had a pony sent in to be sold, it came newly shod but in my view not very well done, I did not get it redone, as was my gut instinct, and it failed on front flexion tests. I had it shod by my farrier, it was very unbalanced in his opinion enough to put pressure on its joints and make it lame under flexion. I sold it again and it passed no problem. I had known the pony for a long while and knew it had never been unsound and it has gone on to be totally fine for many years since.

So I would look at its feet first, if you can get your farrier to shoe him then the vet back to do tests again, it could be something that will be fixed by a good farrier. If it was the horse for me, I would ask for an extension to the trial so I could shoe, flexion and maybe x ray then make a decision based on the outcome.
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We can't be sure OP has a good farrier this is one problem, I know a dealer who will only get his horses shod by one farriery business, becasue he says he has bought some horses which were previously lame because of previous poor farriery.
We can't expect OP to know whether the previous farrier has caused a problem , and if that problem would be sorted by her own farrier.
 
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